Orb Read Free Page B

Well I’m having one now.”
    “Care to share with us?” Thompson said.
    “OK. Just this once. Ninety days getting here. One day till we enter orbit. Awaiting us is the potential of discovering specialized life forms on an Earth-sized planet that is
covered
in water. Can you possibly imagine anything more apropos of a marine biologist’s wet dream?”
    “Do you always blurt out whatever pops into your head?” Thompson asked, amused.
    “Why? Diana responded, “Doesn’t everybody?”
    “Has this verbal ejaculation reached a climax?”
    “I’m sure it has.”
    Thompson had to laugh. Diana’s outburst and other like-spirited remarks she made from time to time was somehow made even more diverting when you considered how out of place they were emanating from a person who had garnered a closet full of prestigious awards in the fields of marine and astrobiology. Yeah, she could sometimes be a bit of wiseass, but she certainly gave the word a fuller meaning.
    The crew had need of her irreverent comments. Anything that could elevate our individual and collective moods was welcome. Months ago we were counseled to expect exploration this remote from Earth to be a tough business. At the time, we thought we were properly prepared. We were not. Not by a long shot. The extended period living in deep space had brought about mild bouts of depression and increasing feelings of isolation. This despite six people and my pooch sharing quarters not much bigger than a small-sized house.
    As I was mulling this over, I looked across the table at Angie. Paws in the air, she was laying stretched out on her back across Kelly’s lap, happily getting her belly stroked. It’s quite possible Angie did more than any one person or thing to keep us entertained. She had become a favorite of the crew. I had the additional benefit of receiving from her unconditional affection. Glancing up from her to Kelly’s smiling face, I found myself wishing that human interaction was as simple and easy to understand. Kelly and I occasionally shared a cabin. Our relationship, starting as friendship during mission training, had developed into something more. How much more was a question I was finding difficult to answer.
    Thompson broke my reverie by asking her a question.
    “And, doctor, your report on the physical condition of the crew?”
    Thompson wasn’t just looking for generalities here. Given the closeness of quarters, and how interdependent we were for survival, there was necessarily no doctor-patient privilege. An exception to the rule could be invoked by Kelly, and even then she was not permitted to withhold patient information from Thompson. Once medical information was in his hands he had sole discretion as to whether the crew needed to be apprised.
    “Under the circumstances,” Kelly began, “we are in good health. Larry was complaining of mild insomnia. Since he wasn’t responding to non-pharmaceutical alternatives, I issued him a mild sleep aid. Time-released liposome capsules with a short warning label. You know the type: Do not take if you are nursing, pregnant, might be pregnant, want to become pregnant, know someone who is possibly pregnant…” her voice trailed off.
    “What if you inflect a sentence with a pregnant pause?” the writer in me asked.
    “Is it working?” Thompson asked, ignoring me.
    “Too soon … to tell,” Melhaus answered. His timing was pretty good. He had paused mid-sentence to get an easy laugh. I was glad to see he could, on rare occasion, interact with the crew.
    “We haven’t heard from you, B.A.,” Thompson said, centering his attention on me.
    “B.A.?” I inquired. I should have known better.
    “Bachelor of Arts. The rest of us have useful science degrees.”
    I had taken up writing as a career a dozen years ago. My educational background, as the crew well knew, was in communications. I had also completed some limited coursework in psychology.
    “Somebody,” I answered back, “has to rein in